Conglomerate AFK Sistema has applied to regain operating rights over the state-sponsored Glonass navigation system.
In 2012, a noncommercial partnership called Glonass Union, controlled by the Transportation Ministry, was appointed as a network operator for Glonass by government decree, ending three years of stewardship by National Information Systems, or NIS.
Sitronics, a Sistema subsidiary that controls NIS, has sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin asking him to grant reinstate federal operational control to its previous holder, Kommersant reported Monday. NIS said it would construct a profitable business based on the Glonass system.
The Transportation Ministry is against the reversal, according to a letter signed by the Deputy Minister Alexey Tsydenov, obtained by the newspaper.
The Glonass system, which cost 3.9 billion rubles ($118 million) to design, is scheduled for launch Dec. 15.
